Week 12 of the college football season seemed to be one of the slowest all year, but it turned heads early and often. First, Ohio State stumbled and struggled out of the gates against a feisty Maryland team, but survived in overtime. Then, Oklahoma State finally cashed in on one of its upset bids by taking down West Virginia in the final moments. Finally, Texas showed its still one of the top teams in the Big 12 despite its three losses.

What else happened on Saturday afternoon? Let's get right to it with scores and analysis from the staff here at CBS Sports.

Week 12 college football schedule, scores

All times Eastern

No. 1 Alabama 50, The Citadel 17 -- Box score
No. 10 Ohio State 52, Maryland 51 -- Recap
No. 3 Notre Dame 36, No. 12 Syracuse 3 -- Recap
Oklahoma State 45, No. 9 West Virginia 41 -- Recap
Missouri 50, Tennessee 17 -- Recap
No. 4 Michigan 31, Indiana 20 -- Recap
No. 2 Clemson 35, Duke 6 -- Box score
No. 15 Texas 24, No. 16 Iowa State 10 -- Box score
No. 11 UCF 38, No. 24 Cincinnati 13 -- Recap

Click here for the full Week 12 college football scoreboard.

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Texas handles Iowa State; Ehlinger banged up

Texas' season hung in the balance with Iowa State coming to town, but Tom Herman's team put together arguably its most complete effort to date in a 24-10 win over Iowa State. What's more, the Longhorns won without the efforts of quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who sustained a shoulder injury near the end of the first half on a third-down scramble. Shane Buechele came off the bench and completed all 10 of his pass attempts for 89 yards and a touchdown. With the victory, Texas is back in the driver's seat in the conference title race. Win against Kansas next week and the Horns are in no matter what happens with Oklahoma and West Virginia. 

Clemson runs away from Duke

After a slow start, the No. 2 Tigers got things rolling in the second half facing a game Duke defense, Trevor Lawrence and the rest of the offense scored all 35 points in the final three quarters, Trevor Lawrence threw two touchdown passes and Travis Etienne rushed for 81 yards and two scores to lead the Tigers to a 35-6 win. The win pushes Clemson's record to 11-0 heading into the intra-state rivalry game against South Carolina next week.

Oklahoma fends off Kansas

Yes, Kansas. But such is life in the Big 12, apparently. The Sooners defense got torched by Jayhawks running back Pooka Williams, who rushed for 252 yards and two touchdowns, and averaged a whopping 16.2 yards per carry. Luckily for the Sooners, Kennedy Brooks showed up and gave Lincoln Riley 171 yards and two scores, Kyler Murray did the same with five total touchdowns and the Sooners offense went nuts en route to a 55-40 win. But that Sooners defense won't earn them any brownie points with the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. Kansas came in averaging 141.8 yards per game on the ground, but gained 348 vs. Oklahoma.

Texas A&M dominates UAB

The Blazers came in as one of college football's best stories of 2018 after earning a Conference USA Championship Game bid in just its second year back from a program shutdown. That's still the case, but things did not go well Saturday night in College Station. Texas A&M running back Trayveon Williams rushed for 167 yards and two touchdowns, Kellen Mond threw two touchdown passes and the Aggies cruised to a 41-20 win. 

Florida State stuns Boston College

It hasn't been the best debut for first-year Florida State coach Willie Taggart, but for at least one day, he gave fans something to be happy about. The Seminoles topped No. 20 Boston College 22-21 in Tallahassee, thanks to 322 passing yards from Deondre Francois and 110 rushing yards from Cam Akers. Francois hit Tamorrion Terry for a 74-yard touchdown with 1:49 to play to give Taggart's crew the dramatic win, and keep hope alive for a bowl game.

Clay Helton is in trouble

USC coach Clay Helton entered Saturday's game against cross-town rival UCLA on one of the hottest seats in the country, and it might be even worse after losing to the Bruins. Quarterback JT Daniels tossed two interceptions, the defense got torched by Bruins running back Joshua Kelly for 289 yards and the Trojans fell to the 3-8 Bruins 34-27. It is USC's first six-loss regular season since 2000 and the Trojans first loss to an opponent with eight losses since Nov. 26, 1960.

Michigan escapes Indiana

No. 4 Michigan is in control of its own College Football Playoff destiny, but control in Saturday's game vs. Indiana was a little bit more difficult than expected. The vaunted Wolverines defense let Hoosiers running back Stevie Scott rack up 139 yards mark and Wolverines quarterback Shea Patterson tossed his first interception since Oct. 6, which has kept this game tight through three quarters. But Patterson led the Wolverines on three long field goal drives in the final 18 minutes to earn the win 31-20. The junior signal-caller finished 16-of-28 for 250 yards, one touchdown and added 68 rushing yards.

Utah State survives a Hail Mary scare

No. 23 Utah State improved to 10-1 and kept hope alive for a New Year's Six bowl with a 29-24 win over Colorado State ... but just barely. Rams quarterback Collin Hill hit Preston Williams on a 34-yard Hail Mary touchdown as time expired to spring the upset and spoil the Aggies party. But referees ruled that Williams stepped out of bounds prior to making the catch, and the touchdown was taken away. The win sets up a winner-take-all game for the Mountain West Conference Mountain division championship between Utah State and Boise State in Boise next weekend.

Alabama woke up

No. 1 Alabama might have been looking ahead to Auburn next week and the SEC Championship Game vs. Georgia on Dec. 1 in the first half vs. The Citadel, but woke up after going into the locker room tied at 10 at halftime. Tua Tagovailoa tossed two touchdowns and ran in another score in the third quarter, linebacker Anfernee Jennings found the end zone on a scoop and score and the Crimson Tide dispatched of the Bulldogs -- it just took a little longer than expected. Tagovailoa's third-quarter touchdown pass to Irv Smith Jr. put Tagovailoa in the Tide record books, and helped Alabama cruise to a 50-17 win.

Ohio State survives

No. 10 Ohio State escaped a test from Maryland in one of the wildest games of the 2018 college football season. Quarterback Dwayne Haskins ran it in from five yards out in the top of the first overtime to push the score to 52-45 and give Ohio State its first lead of the game. Tayon Fleet-Davis punched it in for Maryland in the bottom of the first overtime frame, but quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome missed a wide open receiver after coach Matt Canada decided to go for two and the win. Haskins had 405 passing yards, three touchdowns, 59 rushing yards and three more touchdowns to keep the Buckeyes College Football Playoff hopes alive.

Pitt wins the ACC Coastal

Pitt locked up the ACC Coastal division crown Saturday afternoon against Wake Forest thanks to a stellar second half from a Panthers offense that looked incredibly sluggish in the first half. Quarterback Kenny Pickett went 23-of-30 passing for 316 yards and three second-half touchdown passes, Taysir Mack had three catches for 105 yards and a touchdown and the Panthers put together two, 11-play touchdown drives to wear down the Demon Deacons defense. Pitt will play Clemson in the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 1 in Charlotte. 

Old-school game between Michigan State and Nebraska

Points were at a premium Saturday afternoon in Lincoln, as Michigan State led Nebraska 3-0 at halftime. Rocky Lombardi got the start at quarterback in place of an injured Brian Lewerke, and went 15-of-41 passing for 146 yards. The passing attack has been stagnant, but the Spartans did rack up 93 rushing yards and got a field goal from Matt Coghlin to give the Spartans the lead. But three fourth-quarter field goals from the Cornhuskers, including a 47-yard strike from Barret Pickerling, gave them the victory over a sputtering Michigan State squad. 

Purdue rocks Tyler Trent-inspired lids 

One of college football's more inspiring stories this season involves Tyler Trent, a former Purdue student and passionate Boilermakers fan who has been stricken with terminal cancer. He was a major highlight of Purdue's stunning 49-20 upset over Ohio State and has been a source of motivation for the team. That motivation will physically be on display for Purdue's game at 3:30 vs. Wisconsin. The Boilermakers will wear one of four special designed helmets that say "Tough," "Unrelenting," "Courageous" or "Tenacious."